'James Harden!' 'Purple Walrus!' What do Derek Carr's wacky audibles mean?
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The Las Vegas Raiders played on Sunday Night Football this week, but quarterback Derek Carr's mind seemed to be on another sport.
With no fans in attendance at Allegiant Stadium during the Raiders' 35-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, much of what was said on the field came through crystal clear during the NBC broadcast.
That included the signals called by Carr, who has been known to use some unusual words when calling audibles. An NBA theme emerged with his choices this week.
Houston Rockets star James Harden got a shout-out.
Carr pulled out the James Harden audible 🤣 @derekcarrqb @JHarden13 @Raiders
📺 #KCvsLV on NBC pic.twitter.com/7Hv9QKp1gx— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 23, 2020
So did Hall of Famers Chris Mullin and "Pistol Pete" Maravich.
And Kobe Bryant may have gotten a mention too. While some viewers heard Carr yell "Mom in Georgia," others thought it sounded more like "Mamba Georgia," a reference to the Lakers legend's nickname with the moniker of the Peach State tacked on at the end.
Internet sleuths immediately set out to crack the code. What seems clear is that the NBA players indicated a running play. The rest appears to be up for debate.
So... for Raiders run plays
James Harden and Chris Mullen were ISO weak run plays to the left. Both left handed. Carr tagged "Mike" on them so the FB takes M, OL goes to the W. Switched roles vs normal ISO weak
Mamba and Pistol Pete tagged w/Georgia. G plays to the right.— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) November 23, 2020
All the audibles were shooters who “never passed”, that’s why it was never a pass play, it was a run play every time. Dominant hand may have told which way they were running as well.
— PowerfulOD (@PowerfulOD) November 23, 2020
Nice try but it was based on jersey numbers. For example “Mamba Georgia” was the 2 back hitting the 4 hole. “Harden” (13) was a singleback look hitting the 3 hole. “Mullin” (17) was a single back off tackle with a TE on that side which made it a 7 https://t.co/1tnspk7884
— ScumbagRisma (@RismaScumbag) November 23, 2020
The Chiefs defense is elementary! Every time Derek Carr audibles and say a state east of the Mississippi they run the ball to the right. When they say Harden, they running an iso up the middle. #Chiefs #SundayNightFootball
— Profit-Pat (@Patbo23_) November 23, 2020
Derek carr gotta change his audibles if a 17 year old high school football player w no offers can figure his stuff out😂😂. Basketball player=run play. Harden (has an R=run to the right) mullin (has an L=run to the left) @BrettKollmann u notice this too ?
— Josh Pilarski (@JoshuaPilarski) November 23, 2020
Maybe the real meaning can be found in some combination of them all.
And once those online detectives finish with those, maybe they can tackle some of Carr's other seemingly random phrases, which included "Sammy Davis," "Google, Google" and perhaps the most inexplicable (and entertaining) of all, "Purple Walrus."
Whatever "Purple Walrus" means, it isn't a good thing for the Chiefs. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/3axphA8Oyu
— Mitchel Summers (@WIBWMitchel) November 23, 2020
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
